Fred Maddison

Who was Fred Maddison?

Frederick Maddison was a British trade unionist and Liberal politician.

Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Maddison studied in Kingston upon Hull before becoming a compositor. He joined the Typographical Association and soon rose in prominence, becoming President of the Trades Union Congress in 1886. In 1887, he became the first working class member of Hull Corporation. He took a post in the Labour Department of the Board of Trade, and became a labour journalist.

Maddison stood as a Lib–Lab candidate for Parliament on several occasions, first in Kingston upon Hull Central at the 1892 and 1895 general elections. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside at a by-election in 1897, becoming Sheffield's first working class Member of Parliament, but narrowly lost the seat at the 1900 election. A major factor in his defeat was his support for the Boers during the Boer War.

In 1906, Maddison was elected for Burnley, but he lost this seat in January 1910. He never returned to Parliament, despite standing at Darlington in December 1910, Holderness in 1918, South Dorset in 1922 and finally Reading in 1923.